Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has announced to convene a Parliament session on March 25 to bring a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Around 100 MPs from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) moved a no-confidence motion before the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, alleging that the Imran Khan-led government was unable to provide economic support to the country. is responsible for the crisis and rising inflation.
On Sunday, the NA Secretariat has issued a notification. According to the notification, the Parliament session will begin from March 25. The session will start at 11 am on Friday. Speaker Asad Qaiser has called a special session under Articles 54(3) and 254. For this session, the opposition parties PML-N and PPP had demanded to convene a special session through a letter on March 8. The opposition had demanded that the session be called by March 21.
On one hand the opposition is saying that the session should have been called within 14 days of the letter being sent, but Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid told a press conference that it could be delayed due to extraordinary circumstances. The delay in the matter is due to the high-profile 48th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) beginning in Parliament House on March 22.
Voting will be held in three to seven days
Initially, the opposition had threatened to stage a sit-in if the session was not called on time. The United Opposition, however, softened its stand by insisting that the political turmoil in Pakistan would not be allowed to affect the event in any way. The lower house will consider the opposition’s no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 25. Once the motion is formally taken up by the House, voting must take place between three and seven days.
Imran’s eviction equation
Imran Khan, 69, is heading a coalition government and may be ousted if some allies decide to switch parties. The opposition needs 172 votes to remove Imran Khan in the total 342-member National Assembly. The ruling PTI has 155 members in the House and needs at least 172 MPs to remain in the government. The party has the support of 23 members from at least six political parties.